Prior data on a method of scrapping disposal of process cartridges including toners used in coping machines, printers, etc. is described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-150137.
Also, measures to prevent dust explosions due to the ignition of fine powders are necessary for the pulverizing treatment of process cartridges containing toner, etc., and there is a technique disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-156224 as one of such measures.
Furthermore, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-301222, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-159900 and the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-030248 disclose techniques related to the recycling of thermoplastic resin materials used in the parts of office equipment, such as copying machines, printers, facsimile machines and televisions, and electrical machinery and apparatus.
In addition, an invention related to the separation treatment of toners of used process cartridges is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-205245.
Also, an invention related to powder disposal is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-206685.
Copying machines and printers have come into widespread use within companies and also among individuals and the recovered amount of used process cartridges has been continuing to increase.
The consumption of metal materials used in process cartridges is also large and, for this reason, the effective use of these materials used in process cartridges by recycling them has been required.
In the recycling of metal materials used in process cartridges which are covered by the present invention, it is necessary to have the processes of recovering used process cartridges, of crushing and separating them, and of sorting them into each component material.
For this purpose, it is first necessary to crush process cartridges for each component part.
If process cartridges are crushed too finely in the primary crushing process of process cartridges, it becomes difficult to perform separation in the separation treatment of resin materials, rubber materials, etc. in succeeding processes.
For this reason, in the succeeding processes, the number of disposal steps increases and it becomes necessary to use a high-accuracy separation apparatus of resin materials, with the result that the cost of recycled materials increases.
Accordingly, for the degree of crushing in the primary crushing process of process cartridges, it is important that parts constituted by multiple kinds of materials, such as metal materials and rubber materials, for example, a charging roller and a cleaning blade be subjected to crushing treatment in the primary crushing process to such an extent that the above-described parts, i.e., rubber materials, can be separated from the containers of the process cartridges without destroying their shapes.
However, in some unit parts, such as a photosensitive drum, which are constituted by aluminum and resin materials, it is impossible to separate the aluminum and resin materials from each other with the crushing strength of the primary crushing process.
The crushed state of crushed matter in the primary crushing process of process cartridges is such that metal materials, rubber materials and resin materials coexist.